Aylesburys or what?

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Aylesburys or what?

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cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Sun Sep 22, 13 11:07 pm Post subject: Aylesburys or what?

Hi all, I am looking for a breed of duck that I can eat and which does not lay so many eggs I am endlessly making quiches and sponges to get rid of them. To describe my situation:
I have a long thin block of land, about half an acre but only 17 metres wide. On one side I have a neighbour who is determined to cause problems and whose continual complaints led to me getting rid of the geese I had because they 'might' come onto her land and destroy her (non-existent) vegetable garden. Eventually I got a job and so was away too much to keep any sort of poultry so gave the geese and the hens to various friends. Now I am ready to start again.

I have an enclosure which is half of my orchard which is fenced all round. At present the fence is only 3 feet high and raising it to more than about four feet will be problematic. The enclosure is approximately 8 metres by 30 metres long. A shelter can be constructed and a pond dug in for them to splash, and the present water container is quite deep and set into the ground as well.

Aylesburys appeal as they are heavy birds and so, presumably, less flighty - but what are the young ones like before they put on bulk?

It would be good to be confident they would stay where they were put - not that my birds generally do anything to alarm my neighbour, but I would like to be confident when assuring council staff when she complains to them... (our councils operate on slightly different principles to English councils, so if they are assured there is not a problem they will usually go away without further action).

Would the land available be sufficient for a trio of ducks with supplementary feeding, and not get too puggy? Would I need more land for ducklings if I were to retain them to table weight? So many questions before I leap into this ...

Piggyphile

Joined: 02 Apr 2009
Posts: 891
Location: Galicia

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 8:55 am Post subject:

I am a fan of muscovies, the meat is great eating, they go broody quite a lot which slows up the egg laying. Also as long as you keep the wings clipped they stay where they are put.

They breed very easily but get more than 2 girls for a male, 4 or 5 per male is better so they can share the lurve. If you are going to buy them in as ducklings for meat then get males only, they are bigger than the girls with more meat on them.

Finally non of that loud quacking which your neighbour might complain about, they puff and breath heavily at you with the odd menacing squeak if they are broody.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 9:03 am Post subject:

Yes we had them when I was a child - more hissing than quacking, and yes, the drake is very 'affectionate' - even the chooks were startled from time to time if I recall ....

The other breed I was looking at is the Pekin (which I gather was the main cross with the Aylesbury) or the ancona ... so many decisions to make on breed. They will be over 50 m from any houses, and the neighbour has a row of sheds between her and the lower part of the yard, so complaints about noise would not be considered valid (after all the other neighbour's dogs make more noise more often). This is a rural hamlet (pop 500 if you take in outlying farms), so some animal keeping is only to be expected (as I have explained to her several times).

It is flightiness I am most concerned about - it seems she is convinced any of my animals make a beeline to her place regardless of how securely they are housed (she also smokes dope for 'pain relief' - need i say more?)

TTouch Homestead

Joined: 13 Oct 2011
Posts: 703
Location: Cardigan, West Wales

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 11:14 am Post subject:
i have abacot rangers, they lay spring/summer then stop...they make good meat birds too. smart little critters, mine are trained to go to bed at night, and they fly like bricks...males and females are different colours so you can sex them quite early. am keen on trying muscovies but have to thin out my runners first...

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 9:05 pm Post subject:
They are rather pretty aren't they! gosh - who knew there was so much choice out there in duckyland ...

chez

Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35935
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 9:10 pm Post subject:
I'd say Muscovies, too, from what you say you need - and the lack of quacking is a bonus. You are right, though, the drakes do seem to be a bit over-affectionate I had a trio of Saxonys a while back and they ate very well. Very seasonal layers, mid-February until September.

cassandra

Joined: 27 Mar 2013
Posts: 1733
Location: Tasmania Australia

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 13 9:50 pm Post subject:
Does the feather colour carry through to the meat?

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